Top for can bodies



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Application filed Enig 28,

To all 'whom it muy concern:

Be it known that We, ldnanrnr Dnu'rrr and llenar l?. Sco'rr, dr., citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, and ot Wilmington, in the county of lllevv Castle and State or Delaware, respectively, have :invented new and use-ful improvements in Tops Jfor Can Bodies, oi which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention consists oi a nevil article of manufacture, namely a can top, adapted to be double-seemed to a 'can body, combined with a sealing-member, deposited on the margin of the can top, thesaid sealingmember comprising a distributed quantity of individually deformable solid particles', associated with a viscous or colloidal binder.

'llbe object of the invention is 'to provide can tops, ready .for attachment to can bodies by the usual process of double-seaming, with a seam sealing member adhesively seamed thereto Which'comprises an abundant volume of deformable solid materials in comminuted form, 'capable of Housing between the convolutions or" a rolled seam as the seam is formed, completely to till the irregular voids in the seam. l A

lt has for some time been the practice for can manufacturers, in the manufacture of rectangular, round, or elliptical cans, provided either lWith solid ends or-ends with an opening for a friction cover, to join the ends to thel body by means of automatic machinery which rolls or spins the edge of the can cover and the small ange, which has been previously pressed out from the body of the can, intoa double seam. Usually some lining compound or a so. called gasket has been employed by the manufacturer to lill and seal the seam made by rolling or s inning the edges of the can end into a oldpwith the peripheral portion of the can end.

The can manufacturer has habitually furnished to thepackers cans with one end double-seemed on, along with died out or stamped can ends to be applied by the packer to the open ends of the can bodies supplied by the can'manufacturer. These unattached ends have heretofore been lined around the margin with either a compound or a gasket to give a tight seal when the end is applied to the can-body by the canner. rilhe inherentelicacy o such sealing compounds is oi relatively less importance 1n the can manufacturing establishments Where constant skilled supervisionis avail able as well as skilled Worlnnen for constant adjustment of the seamer rolls, than 1s the. case underthe imperfect conditions prevailing in many canneries which are in isolated places Where skilled mechanics are wanting llrhere the sealing compounds or,y

gaskets which suiiice at the can manu'factory frequently fail in their object.

Among the sealing devices which have been employed for the above-mentioned purpose, the principal ones have been gaskets of thin rubber and oi' unsized paper, and rubber cement solutions squirted into the vperipheral groove or curl,-socalled, of the can end.

Rubber gaskets are not only expensive, but involve diculty in applying to the ends. The paper gasket is also open to the following objections lf stamped out of paper which has been imperfectly dried or stored in ahumid atmosphere before. cutting, the gasket is apt to dry out and shrink so much that it drops Y out of the can end before the end is rolled Aonto the can-body. lf the paper-lined canotherwise air will gradually seep through and `the can willA lose its vacuum. Under the best conditions, the paper gasket is incapable of flowing under the local compressions incident to rolling the double seam, and is merely pinched or compressed Whenever it lies between the convolutions of metal. l

The chief diilicultyV developed 1n lthe use of' rubber cement solutions has been that a ldd solution of proper working viscosity is.

practically limited, as to the amount of rubber content, to about one-half pound of rubber per gallon of solvent. The problem of which the infvention herein described is proffered as a solution, has been `to increase the effective volume of the non-volatile portion ofthe sealing composition,` so that t3 enough of such. material shall'be available to flow into and fill all the interstitial spaces in the rolled' seam formed by rolling the metal of the can body and end together. The desirabilit of providing abundant ef` 31e feotive solid i ling material for this purpose becomes obvious in'the light of the fact that in rolling the metal'to form a v fold, especially Where unskilled attendance is a factor, -interstitial spaces between the 16 folds of metal are not perfectly uniform in cross-section.' This is con'splcuously the case at the point where the side-seam of the can prevents Aa multiple thickness of the can-metal to be folded into the seam.

The seali'nof` member which in combination with a metal can-top constitutes the new article of manufacture herein described is characterized in its broader aspect by the incorporation'with a colloidal solution or -eiiten'siom .of comminuted, granulated, -or

otherwise distributable, deformable solid material. F or the purpose here involved, compressibility is the preferred phase or type of deformability. The colloid after evaporl a0 lation of the' solvent or after settingserves 40 aspect, the invention is characterized by a` solid material inherently deformable under compression, reduced tosmall bodies or granules, these granules being bound by means of a viscous colloidal material. which fills the voids between the solid. granules and constitutes a viscous matrix in which `the granules are enclosed and inw-hich 'as Well as with lwhich the granules (each in-` dividually compressibleor' deformable) can ilow`m`respo`'sefto local inequalities Aof pressure. Specifically, the invention is exempliied by granulatedcorkin asolution,

. i highly viscous after setting, or after evaporation of its solvent, preferably vand particularly one containing rubber.

' I -Vile have found other collodial materials, such as albumen, casein, or glue, suspended in water, effective to form sealing compositions in association with compressible or de 5 formable comminuted solid materials, par- 4ti'cularly ground Work. Compositions ofthis character may be `flowed or squirted into the curl of a can top, there to dry partially,

`or set, orl both, according to the character j 55 Stios of the binder..

.finds suitableto the conditions under which Lerares While it is believed that cork-is the material which best exeinplies the inherent compressibility or deformability under compression required as one property of the solid content of the described sealing composition, any solid material which manifests compressibility or deformability in the same or similar manner, may be employed with similar results, provided its surface characteristics are suitable. materials such as` artificial corks, spongy masses, piths (such as sugar-cane piths), ground balsa wood, leather or other cellular t or fibrous bodies,capable of lsubdivision vinto` individually deformable particles.

A composition which exemplifies this invention may be formed by. mixing from three-fourths to one pound of cork, ground to pass forty or fiftyA mesh, with a rubber solution containing from one-quarter-to nehalf pound of rubber in one gallon of benzol. This produces a composition containingover five timesas-much solid material by volume as the thickest rubber solution heretofore commonly used as a can-sealing material lts solid content is larger than usually `necessary for can-sealing purposes, so that the packer may safely thin it by theladdition of some benzol to a. consistency which he he operates. l

A sealing compositionof the usual rubber solution type is commonlycolored with pigments or spirit-soluble dyes in order to `facilitate inspection of the lined ends for skips or smears. In compositions made under this "invention any suitable coloring may be in- 'corporated as heretofore, but because of the greater volume of solid residue ldeposited. when the solution sets or loses the volatile4 solvent and becauseof the opacity of the cork'or other. compressible or deformable material, this coloring, which is oftentimes an expensive component, is not required.

-When such a rubber solution and ground cork composition is flowed or squirted into the curl of the can'top, and the solvent -evaporates in large part,` the adhering residue may have a crackled, porous or lace-like surface. It is, however, soft and moldable under pressure, and .when the can seam is rolled` the ground cork squeezes and flows lin and with the binder into all parts of the interstitial spaces of the seam entering into and completely filling the larger voids in response to the relatively high ressures developed where the metal `sur aces are lili) pressed more closely together. Although at Particular reference is had to 75- It has been discovered upon close inspection that when the composition herein described comprising rubber solution as the viscous binder with cork, is used for sealing a can, the predominance in quantity of cork over rubber enables a can containing oil, paints, or solvents which attack rubber to remain tight nevertheless and furthermore that it prevents any oozing of the compound when the cans are processed.

A sealing composition, as described in this specification, may be supplied in the form ofa slightly viscous solution ready to be applied to the ends substantially according .to any of the methods now in common use, or may be supplied in the form. of a very Viscous solution or concentrated dough, which may be applied to the can ends while -jot' that consistency, by scraping from a 2o roller or by extrusion or any other suitable means, or may be thinned by the addition of solvent' to a consistency where it can be flowed or squirted on to the can-ends.

In the drawings herein annexed, which illustrate"-the invention,-

Figure 1 is a plan view'of a can-end, with the sealing member adhesively attached;

Figure 2 is a section, at the line 2 2 of Figure 1, showing part of the metal can-top and the sealing member, on a larger scale; and

Figure 3 is a section of a'rolled can seam, on still larger scale.

In the drawings, T represents a round can top flange C, called the curl. S represents with a small inturned peripheral' the sealing composition member, adhesively deposited around the margin of the can top, next'to and Vwithin the curl C.

In Fig. 3, the convolutions of metal of which the can,top T and body B are composed, are shown in section at the rolled double seam. The sealing memberunder the heavy compression produced where the metal anges are rolled into close contact shows in the interspaces or voids at S, with which the solid deformable particles-and the viscous binder have flowed, being intruded thereto by the pressure exerted at other points.

We claim:

l. A can top, adapted to be doubleseamed to a can-body, having a sealing member comprising individually deformable solid particles in association with a viscous binder, adhesively deposited on its margin.

2. A. can top, adapted to be doubleseamed to a can-body, having a sealing Vmember comprising individually deformable 

